Hearts & Fists – A Deal's A Deal
by T2 Angel
Summary: Ken vs. Ryu. Why? Because Ken lost a bet. Or won it. Hard to tell since they both want to test their skills against each other, once again. But this time, Chun-Li, Sakura, Eliza, and Mel are there to bear witness to this "friendly" contest. Set in my "Hearts & Fists" series of stories. One-Shot.


**A/N: Oh, my goodness! Hey, everyone! How long has it been since I've been in this universe? Way too long! The official sequel to "Hearts & Fists" is still coming but, in the mean time, here is a little gem for all of my faithful followers and readers. In particular, 89niners-best-team-ever who reminded me of this little subplot from the original story. This story is my quick way of saying thank you all for your patience! Oh! And for those who don't know, Mel is Ken and Eliza's son. Enjoy!**

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><p><span><strong>Hearts &amp; Fists – A Deal's A Deal<strong>

Ken tightened the belt on his gi. "A deal's a deal." He got into his fighting stance.

Tightening his headband, Ryu smiled and nodded. He got into his stance, as well.

Chun-Li, Sakura, Mei, Eliza, and Mel looked on as the best friends squared off. They were constantly amused by how these events came about. They were all back at the mountain training ground where, under Gouken, the Hadou masters first learned how to be warriors and became brothers. The spectators were seated on the steps of the old dojo as they looked at the two prepare for this planned and long awaited confrontation.

"Not that I'm complaining but refresh my memory," Sakura spoke up, "why exactly is this happening again?"

"Ken bet Ryu that he couldn't hold on to a cell phone for a whole year," Eliza explained. "Well, Ryu far exceeded that but things got a little crazy with Guerilla, Ryu and Chun-Li's wedding, and everything."

"So… just because of that, they decided to have the fight?"

"Yep."

Sakura beamed. "Awesome!"

Chun-Li giggled, "Sakura, I'm sure they are thinking the same thing."

"GO, DAD!" Mel shouted.

The ladies laughed.

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><p>The bonded brothers both took fighting stances and prepared to advance each other. The wind flew gently, causing the leaves to flow. One leaf blew off a branch and, slowly, came to the ground. The second it hit, they rushed each other.<p>

Ken attacked first; on the surface, being the most eager for this fight. Ryu blocked a punched and followed up with a kick that Ken deflected. Ken ducked under a fist from Ryu and back with a standard uppercut that Ryu deflected. The Japan native came around with kick to Ken's right side; he absorbed the blow, caught Ryu's leg, and lifted him off the ground before sending him back down with force. He tried to punch down but Ryu deflected and threw a kick just to get Ken to back away.

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><p>Watching the fight, the ladies couldn't help but smile. It was too obvious that these men were having the time of their life. Sakura, however, was beaming from ear to ear. It was everything in her to keep herself seated and not jump in spar with these two, as well.<p>

Chun-Li looked over at the young girl and saw her leg trembling and her hands shaking. She smiled. "Wish you could get in there?"

"Is it that obvious?" Sakura replied.

"You're about to stomp a hole in the ground."

The young Japanese girl looked at her foot. She tried to stop but she was still too happy. She looked back at Chun-Li, "Can you blame me? This is so awesome!"

Chun-Li just giggled. She looked back at the fight. "You know what? You're right about that." She looked at Eliza. "I'm guessing that it might be a little boring for you."

"You would think so but…" Eliza smiled. "When Ken knew that this was a go, you should've seen the smile on his face." She paused. "I think… it's because Ryu is like his brother and this is how they met and got to be brothers. It's just a happiness for him. To see him so happy… it makes me happy. So… no, this isn't boring for me at all."

A hard blow landed on Ken, courtesy of Ryu punching him, causing Eliza to cringe.

"Then again… the bruises afterward might not be as fun."

"Or they could get happier each time they see them," Chun-Li added. "Our men… are a little strange."

The blonde woman laughed. "You're right about that."

"But," Chun-Li shrugged, "since I'm like them, I guess I'm just as weird."

"Ditto," Sakura chimed in.

Eliza giggled. "Not weird. Just different. And different is good. After all, you guys are family."

Chun-Li and Sakura smiled.

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><p>Ken went crashing into a tree from Ryu's last kick. He started to get up but his best friend was already on him, punching him in the stomach. Several times.<p>

'_Oh, you suck!_' Ken cursed at Ryu.

Ryu went for one last punch to Ken's jaw but the blonde fighter blocked to punch and gave Ryu his receipt for the barrage to his abdomen. He placed a hard solid knee in the Ryu's gut. He grabbed Ryu's gi, rolled back, taking his best friend with him, and flipped Ryu into the very tree Ryu was just assaulting him on. The white garbed warrior managed to push himself up to his feet in time to get kicked across the face by the blonde warrior. Ryu stumbled away from the tree, sensed Ken was coming and immediately executed a Tatsumaki Senpukyaku. The last blow caused Ken to spin around before hitting the ground.

Ken shook off the blows and got back up. Ryu was in the air, coming down for a kick, but Ken just smirked.

The stood up quickly, made a first, and jumped in the air. "Shoryuken!"

The flame-fused uppercut caught Ryu, sending him hard to the ground. Ken landed on the ground and looked at his downed brother. Growling as he got to his feet, Ryu entered another fighting stance, Ken entered his own, and they charged at one another. Their battle was one that only the two of them could have. They fought as the experts they were but with energy and power of men half their age. They kept fighting until they landed a simultaneous blow that forced them both back a bit. They stared at each other, breathing hard for a few seconds as they planned what to do next.

Ryu entered into an extremely familiar posture and started gathering his ki for a Hadouken.

Ken smirked for a second then right back to serious. He mimicked Ryu's poise, as well, preparing his Hadouken.

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><p>Sakura jumped to her feet, "Oh, my God!"<p>

"This is it!" Chun-Li said.

"Just what I was thinking," Eliza shook her head, smirking.

"Get 'im, Dad!" Mel shouted.

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><p>Ryu and Ken kept gathering ki as they prepared to fire. They were two jet fighters, just waiting for the order to take off.<p>

"HA!"

The engines were revving up.

"DOU!"

Flames were shooting out of the exhaust.

Then…

Ignition.

"KEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEN!"

Both Hadou fighters launched their attacks and they collided with one another. The explosion was bright and brilliant and caused enough force to throw fighters back from each, sending them into the dirt. Their spectators had to cover their faces from the attack but were up on their feet as soon as the light faded. They found the men lying on the ground, breathing hard but alive which was all that really mattered. They were both probably hurt but it was pain that they didn't mind.

Out of breath and in evident pain, Ryu and Ken pushed themselves up and looked at each other. They chuckled then started to laugh. They got to their feet and dragged their pain-racked bodies back over toward the dojo steps, their audience moving so they could sit on the steps.

Sakura was bouncing on her toes. "THAT WAS TOTALLY AWESOME!"

Everyone just laughed at her exclamation.

Chun-Li leaned against the railing, looked her husband over, and smiled. "So… glad you still have the phone?"

He smiled, still out of breath. "Oh, yeah…"

Eliza walked up to Ken and sat down next to him. "Just couldn't let it go, could you?"

Ken smirked, "You kidding? That was totally worth it."

"That was so cool, Dad!" Mel said.

He laughed. "Yeah, it was, buddy."

The best friends looked at each other and laughed. They bumped fists.

"Same time in a year?" Ken smiled.

Ryu chuckled. "Sure. Why not?"

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><p><strong>AN: So, what did you guys think? I love your reviews!**

**I know this was a little on the short side but I just wanted to do this story and, let's face it, we can all find a good number of videos or story with Ryu and Ken fighting each other. This is just my quick little drabble. I hope you guys liked it! Please, REVIEW! See you soon!**

**T2 Angel**


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